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8 Ways To Become More Fiscally Responsible 

Written by Marc Guberti

Marc Guberti is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor who has been a finance freelance writer
for five years. He has covered personal finance, investing, banking, credit cards, business
financing, and other topics.
Marc’s work has appeared in US News & World Report, USA Today, Investor Place, and other
publications. He graduated from Fordham University with a finance degree and resides in
Scarsdale, New York.
When he’s not writing, Marc enjoys spending time with the family and watching movies with
them (mostly from the 1930s and 40s). Marc is an avid runner who aims to run over 100
marathons in his lifetime.

Updated February 14, 2024​

5 min. read​

Many people stress about their finances. A recent APA survey concluded that 72% of Americans feel stressed about money. Becoming fiscally responsible helps you regain control over your finances and save toward retirement. We will share several strategies to become more fiscally responsible and strengthen your personal finances.

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What Does It Mean to Be Fiscally Responsible?

Fiscally responsible individuals know how to manage their money. They don’t waste money and put their money to work. Fiscal responsibility helps you save up for retirement and achieve your financial goals sooner.

Why Is It Important to Be Fiscally Responsible?

Fiscal responsibility boils down to money management. Effectively managing your money gives you more choices and flexibility. You can retire sooner, go on more vacations, and have more time for loved ones. Living paycheck to paycheck creates enormous stress that can damage relationships and harm your physical health and wellbeing. Fiscally responsible individuals evade the common pitfalls while reaping the benefits of prudent money management.

8 Ways to Become More Fiscally Responsible

Becoming fiscally responsible provides many advantages. You’ll increase self-control and become less susceptible to irresponsible action around your finances. These tips can strengthen your money management skills.

1. Create A Budget

Budgets limit your expenses and make you more conscious of every dollar you spend. Establishing a monthly budget lower than your income ensures you have some money left. You can start with a general budget and get more specific with other expense items. Fiscally responsible consumers set budgets around grocery shopping, entertainment, travel, and any particular category.

A proper budget will lower your total spending and force you to look for smarter ways to spend your money. Fiscally responsible people look for ways to extend their money’s mileage. Some people create multiple bank accounts to accommodate each expense category. Creating a savings fund for each expense category keeps everything in perspective instead of clumping everything into one account. You can create various accounts through Current (*) and view each one within the same dashboard. Current (*) also provides an attractive APY on their savings pods.

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2. Track Your Spending

Tracking your spending is the beginning of improvement. You get to see your current spending patterns and review each expense item. People who track their spending become more aware of unused subscriptions and excessive purchases. Most of these expenses go unnoticed in our busy, fast-paced world. Tracking your spending forces you to slow down and look at how you currently deploy your money.

You can track monthly expenses by looking at your credit card and bank statements. These documents give you a head start, but you can get further insights through Current’s money tracking tools. The mobile app provides personalized spending insights, budgeting tools, instant spending notifications, and other resources. Current (*) keeps you informed about where your money travels.

3. Pay Off Debts

Debt can slow down anyone on the path to financial freedom. Interest will accumulate, and any missed payments will hurt your credit score. Paying off debt reduces financial stress and monthly payments. You’ll have more flexibility with the money you receive in future paychecks. Stay on top of credit card debt, student loan debt, and other obligations. Don’t take on more debt than you can afford, and prioritize repaying debt with high-interest rates.

After paying debt, you don’t want to fall back into the hole. Some consumers protect their finances by switching from credit cards to debit cards. Debit cards are attached to your checking account and prevent you from overspending. You can set up a rewards debit card with Current (*) and receive up to 15x points on qualifying purchases.

4. Build An Emergency Fund

Emergencies happen, but most people do not adequately prepare for them. Most bankruptcies occur because of medical bills and an expense people can’t always anticipate. While medical bills can wipe out families financially, many people can’t make a payment for a $400 emergency expense. Some people may feel pressure and scramble for extra funds when a small emergency takes place.

Building up an emergency fund protects you from minor or significant inconveniences. Some fiscally responsible people save enough money to cover six months of their salaries. This buffer provides some financial protection from a layoff or getting fired. No one can predict these outcomes, but they can happen and impact your financial situation. An emergency fund will cushion the blow. You can earn a return on your emergency funds by putting them in a Current Savings Pod. You can put up to $2,000 into each pod (up to three) and earn up to a 4.00% Bonus (1) on your funds. Enabling Current’s round-ups feature automatically allocates money into your savings pod every time you swipe by rounding up your purchase to the nearest dollar—an easy way to save without much effort.

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5. Have A Savings Goal

Current Savings Pods allow you to set up savings goals directly in the app. The up to 4.00% Bonus helps your money grow, but you need to put money into the account for it to grow. A savings goal will inspire you to make larger deposits and trim your spending. The following savings goals will keep you on track:

  • Monthly savings goal: A close deadline makes each day feel more urgent. Only setting long-term goals can lead to bad habits. Further deadlines create room for excuses.
  • Annual savings goal: Each month allows you to work toward a meaningful objective. An annual savings goal gives you extra motivation to hit your monthly goal. Saving $500/mo equates to $6,000/yr of savings.
  • 5-year savings goal: Set a 5-year savings goal that surpasses your required monthly savings goal. If you save $500/mo, you will save $30,000 over five years. Raising the 5-year goal to $40,000 only requires an additional $170/mo in savings. You may not have that capacity right now, but it will inspire you to boost your income and lower your expenses. Both of these actions will let you consistently surpass $500/mo in savings. The 5-year savings goal gives you extra motivation to make it happen.

Some people plan out decades in advance and put money in a college fund. High-ticket expenses come eventually, and it’s better to prepare for them.

6. Invest Your Money

Investing is one of the most reliable paths to a quicker retirement. Buying assets puts your money to work and allows it to grow on the sidelines. Some investors opt to invest in the stock market and real estate, while others may put their money in a Current Savings Pod for up to a 4.00% bonus. The Savings Pod makes sense for emergency funds and short-term investments. Stocks and real estate can appreciate significantly in the long term, but volatility can become stressful if most of your proceeds are in those assets. Creating an investment strategy for your risk tolerance will help you find opportunities that fit your preferences.

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7. Diversify Your Investments

Each investment carries some risks in exchange for a potential reward. Equities have more risk, but investors stockpile funds into these assets for promising prospects. Diversified portfolios let you capitalize on various assets and spread your risk. You can allocate some funds for high-risk investments and other funds for low-risk positions.

The Current app lets you create multiple Savings Pods to spread your funds.

8. Plan For Retirement and Get Insured

Fiscally responsible consumers plan for retirement and get insured. They follow money management practices to build wealth. Setting a retirement number and keeping it top of mind will help you apply the other financial disciplines. Getting insured will protect you if financial burdens show up on your path to retirement. Insurance policies can also provide your loved ones with additional funds in the event of an untimely death. Some consumers take out a term life insurance policy later in life instead of paying higher premiums for a whole life insurance policy.

Current (*) can help you with your financial goals. The mobile app allows users to track their expenses with money management tools and earn up to a 4.00% bonus on their money. Get started with a Current account to get these perks and others.

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With direct deposit. Faster and easier access to funds is based on a comparison of traditional banking policies and deposits of paper checks versus deposits made electronically and the additional methods available to access funds via a card as opposed to a paper check.

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With direct deposit. Faster and easier access to funds is based on a comparison of traditional banking policies and deposits of paper checks versus deposits made electronically and the additional methods available to access funds via a card as opposed to a paper check.

×

With direct deposit. Faster and easier access to funds is based on a comparison of traditional banking policies and deposits of paper checks versus deposits made electronically and the additional methods available to access funds via a card as opposed to a paper check.

×

With direct deposit. Faster and easier access to funds is based on a comparison of traditional banking policies and deposits of paper checks versus deposits made electronically and the additional methods available to access funds via a card as opposed to a paper check.

×

Boost Bonuses are credited to your Savings Pods within 48 hours of enabling the Boost feature and on a daily basis thereafter, provided that the Savings Pod has accrued a Boost Bonus of at least $0.01. The Boost rate is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed Boost rate is effective as of August 1, 2023. Must have at least $0.01 in Savings Pods to earn a Boost rate of either 0.25% or 4.00% annually on the portion of balances up to $2000 per Savings Pod, up to $6000 total. The remaining balance earns 0.00%. A qualifying payroll direct deposit of $200 or more is required to earn a Boost rate of 4.00%. No minimum balance required. Please refer to Current Boost Terms and Conditions .

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With direct deposit. Faster and easier access to funds is based on a comparison of traditional banking policies and deposits of paper checks versus deposits made electronically and the additional methods available to access funds via a card as opposed to a paper check.

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